Aretha Franklin vs Jacqueline du Pré
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Aretha Franklin | Jacqueline du Pré | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Rock | Classical |
| Born | 1942 | 1945 |
| Died | 2018 | 1987 |
| Country of birth | United States | United Kingdom |
| Star sign | Aries | Aquarius |
Who they are
Aretha Franklin
There are voices, and then there is Aretha Franklin. Born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Aretha Louise Franklin possessed something that cannot be taught, manufactured, or replicated — a raw, torrential instrument that transformed every room it entered. By the time she was twelve years old, singing in her father's New Bethel Baptist Church, gospel insiders already whispered that they were witnessing something singular. By the time she was twenty-five, the entire world had no choice but to agree.
Full biography of Aretha Franklin →
Jacqueline du Pré
There is a recording made in 1965, when Jacqueline du Pré was nineteen years old, that classical musicians still use as a reference point for what the cello can express. She was performing Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor — a late, elegiac work that Elgar wrote in 1919, after the destruction of the First World War, and which had been considered a minor piece of his output until du Pré played it. Her performance — large-scaled, deeply personal, technically sovereign — transformed the concerto's reputation overnight. It is now considered one of the great…
Full biography of Jacqueline du Pré →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Near contemporaries - 3 years apart.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United States and United Kingdom.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Aretha Franklin or Jacqueline du Pré?
- Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin was born in 1942, Jacqueline du Pré in 1945.
- What field is each of them in?
- Aretha Franklin is filed under Music (Rock). Jacqueline du Pré is filed under Music (Classical).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.